Houston Astros fans optimistic as Jose Abreu’s bat begins to show signs of life: "Took him a while but he’s picking up momentum"

After a difficult start to his debut season with the Houston Astros, Jose Abreu is beginning to show signs of life with his new team.

Abreu smoked just his second home run of the season in the first inning of a series-opening game against the Cleveland Guardians on Friday. The blast, which came off of Cleveland starter L.T. Allen, also scored third baseman Alex Bregman.

It's Abreu's first homer since he sprinted around the bases following his first round-tripper of the season on May 28 against the Oakland Athletics. That was 52 games into the season.

Jose Abreu, a .292 career hitter with 243 home runs over nine seasons with the Chicago White Sox, was hitting a meek .217 with one home run in his first 61 games with the Houston Astros entering Friday.

The 2014 American League Rookie of the Year and 2020 AL Most Valuable Player signed a three-year, $58.5 million contract with Houston in the winter just before he turned 36 years old.

While Jose Abreu was a legend in Chicago, he has been disappointing with the Houston Astros so far.

Abreu inherited first base from beloved White Sox player Paul Konerko in his rookie season in 2014. In addition to winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award, he was fourth in the AL Most Valuable Player voting. He delighted one and all with a .581 slugging percentage while hitting 36 home runs with 107 RBI and a .307 batting average.

While it broke Chicago's heart when he left, his performance in Houston has had Astros fans pulling out their hair.

Abreu went 2-for-4 in Thursday's series finale at the Toronto Blue Jays and has gotten hits in seven of his last 10 games. However, his batting average has remained in the low .200s, and few affiliated with the Astros could have figured that the strapping slugger would have just two homers on June 9.

With super slugger Yordan Alvarez — who leads the majors with 55 RBIs — going on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain on Thursday, there would be no better time for Abreu to begin playing like the Abreu of old.

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Houston Astros desperately need Jose Abreu to start hitting like he did with the White Sox

Jose Abreu #79 of the Houston Astros hits a single

If Abreu begins hitting the way he has in the past, it would go a long way towards helping the Astros close a five-game deficit to the AL West-leading Texas Rangers.